Flirting with Feelings
by emilycare
Summary: After the Darlington 500, Lucy Wyatt flirt with admitting their feelings-and with each other. #LyattWeek Day 3 prompt: lyatt fluff


Lucy was still wearing Wyatt's jacket when they arrived back at the bunker. As he handed her out of the Lifeboat, Wyatt couldn't suppress a satisfied smile at the feel of his hands slipping beneath the coat to grasp her slim waist. Lucy smiled back at him as she floated down in his grasp. She lingered there, her hands resting on his arms. He was content to stand looking into her deep brown eyes until he heard a cough.

Lucy and Wyatt glanced guiltily up at Rufus. Lucy stepped quickly away to make room for the pilot to exit. With a smiling glance at Wyatt her heels clicked on the hard floor as she strode away to get out of her period garb. Wyatt gave his friend a hand down, being careful to avoid the burn on the pilot's arm. He sighed as he watch Lucy stride away.

Rufus said, "Very subtle"

"What?"

"Don't 'what' me. I was right there when that trunk opened. Looks like you were looking for a little cuddle in the rumble seat?"

"Hey—" Wyatt glanced over his shoulder. "That's not your business, is it?" Lucy had disappeared down the hallway. "C'mon. Nothing happened."

Rufus began walking towards their room and Wyatt followed. Despite his words, the feel of Lucy in his arms in the dark trunk came back to Wyatt. A secret smile crept across his face again as the memories warmed him.

Rufus rolled his eyes. "Uh, yeah. Keep telling yourself that, Romeo." They reached their room and Rufus opened the door, but stopped Wyatt with his hand before letting him enter. "Hey, Wyatt. This is good. You know that, right?"

Wyatt shrugged. Rufus stood his ground.

"Yeah."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, it's good."

Rufus nodded and stepped through the door. "Goddamn. If trying to question you is anything like trying to get you to admit to feelings that are blazingly obvious from a mile away, then I'm glad we're on the same side." Rufus lay down on his bunk, kicking off his shoes.

Wyatt glared at his roommate, but it didn't last long. How could he really feel anything but glad with Lucy back. A sad, troubled Lucy, but he was sure that slowly but surely pieces of the old sassy, spirited Lucy he knew and... Well, she was getting back to being herself. _Who wouldn't be glad?_

The door shot open. A dark haired blur crossed the room. Jiya leapt onto Rufus on the bed, and prompted an "oof" out of him. She pressed kisses across his face and started peppering him with questions about the mission. Rufus let out an "ouch" and Jiya peered with concern at his bandaged arm. The sounds of their affectionate reunion tugged at new emotions in Wyatt's chest. He grabbed a shirt and towel and headed out the door.

"Heya, Jiya. Have fun now, kids!"

Twenty minutes later, Wyatt spun the shower tap closed, shutting off the steaming water and dried himself roughly with the towel. The memory of Lucy's bone white skin and blood red lips glowing from the darkness beneath him appeared before his shut eyes. The tantalizing feel of her lips just touching his came back in full force. _Should have taken a cold shower._

He dressed and headed out to the living room. Looking at the clock, he decided to give the happy couple more time for their reunion. _Should have grabbed a book._ He sat heavily on the couch and twitched one of the ancient magazines they'd found stacked in the bunker out from its spot on the coffee table. Moments later familiar footsteps sounded in his direction, and though he kept himself still, he felt his heart rate and breath quicken in anticipation.

A hand landed on his shoulder and he leaned back, looking up at a seemingly upside down Lucy. Her lips were bare. She was wearing one of those sloppily fitting sweat shirts Agent Christopher had probably picked up from Target. Her hair was down from its ribbon, loose and now tossed back messily. In other words she was gorgeous, as usual.

"Thanks for the loan." She handed him his jacket. He smiled up at her.

"It looks good on you."

She smiled, but wrinkled her eyes and nose at him in disbelief. "This reminds me too much of high school. I'm not really the varsity type." He took the jacket from her hands and sat upright on the couch leaving room for her beside him. She took the spot, crossing her legs. Her knee bumped his in a friendly way. Wyatt's hand glanced over her leg lightly. Lucy pretended to ignore the touch but her smile kicked up a notch.

"You're not, huh? I can see it. You know, the quarterback boyfriend giving you his ring at Homecoming. Heading up to Lover's Lane—"

"And playing chicken at the drag race on Old McGregor Road? I know I'm a **little** older than you, but do you think I actually grew up in the 50s?" She punched his shoulder jovially. "We just left there and I'm glad not to be stuck in that decade. You were right about the cars, but you've got to admit I was right about the racism and repression."

Wyatt pretended to be hurt by her punch. Rubbing his arm in mock pain, he then leaned back and casually lay his arm along the back of the couch. Lucy's head shifted infinitesmally, laying the slightest bit of her weight on him. "Touché, ma'am. In future, I'll continue to leave the historical stuff to you. But now you know you can leave the car stuff to me." His fingers itched to slip down around her shoulder, but he didn't want to press his luck. He just enjoyed the buzz he got from sitting so close beside her.

Lucy arched an eyebrow and pretended to take offense. "'Stuff'?! That's what my multiple PhDs and years of work are to you, stuff?" She gave him side eye and homed in on his underarm so tantalizingly close to her. She took aim and tickled Wyatt who guffawed in laughter. His arms closed defensively but Lucy darted in, now tickling his neck. Wyatt clasped his arms around her trying to get a hold to stop her. Lucy squirmed, inadvertently kicking the coffee table. Wyatt's arms closed around her and he hugged her tight to his chest. Both were laughing convulsively. A voice interrupted them.

"Okay children. I know it may seem like all fun and games, but I could use a debrief. If you have time to spare." Denise was all but tapping her foot.

Wyatt reluctantly released Lucy. They exchanged glances like naughty children caught in an act of mischief. Denise collected all three time travelers and they laid out the events as they had occurred. Wyatt gave his run-down of the sleeper's NASCAR record, marveling anew that this could be brand new information when from his perspective he'd grown up on the lore. Lucy described Emma's threats and Denise questioned her closely about what had been said. They were still trying to get any hints they could about the new Rittenhouse organizational structure. Anything Emma had said could potentially give them a lead on where they had gone to ground. Jiya seemed troubled. Rufus rubbed his girlfriend's back soothingly. His arm was freshly bandaged.

After the debrief broke up, Wyatt lingered in the common space. His usual routine would take him to the weights for his daily rotation, but the siren call of time with Lucy Preston delayed him. She had settled down in one of the least uncomfortable arm chairs with a book. Wyatt saw a recognizable face peeking out from the cover. She'd managed to find a book on Dwight Eisenhower in the shelves.

Wyatt pulled a book at random from the shelf and sat down. He thumbed through the pages not really seeing the words. He heard a low chuckle and looked up to see Lucy watching him with an amused expression in her eyes. Her happiness warmed his heart. He stared back at her smiling for a beat until the fact that she was literally laughing at him sank in.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Well?"

She leaned forward in her chair, looking in his eyes. His eyes locked on her lips and the moments passed like seasons as she moved towards him. Then her hand popped up and she took the book from his hands. After turning it right side up, she handed it back to him.

"Works better this way, sweetheart."

His paper thin alibi crumbled. Lucy smirked. Wyatt reflected that it was not so bad being caught. He lay the book down and leaned back in the chair, putting his hands behind his head. He said, "You want to go for a run?"

Five minutes later found Lucy and Wyatt careening through the bunker. They ran up the corridor to the outside door.

Lucy called at Wyatt, "We can't go out there!"

He neatly slowed to a stop at the massive metal door. The glow of the sparks as he'd tried unsuccessfully to cut open came back to him. The depths of his worry for the woman by his side hit him like a kick in the gut and he stopped abruptly. The change in trajectory baffling her, Wyatt caught her around the waist and helped her slow safely. She rested her hands on his shoulders and he lingered there so close, then winked at her with a devilish half grin and dashed back down the corridor the way they'd come leaving Lucy to scramble to keep up with him.

Wyatt lead the way, passing their rooms, the giant fans, running through the empty kitchen, circling the living room and heading towards the hangar bay. As they avoided chairs in this makeshift obstacle course, the sound of their laughter filled the rooms.

They made a circuit around the Lifeboat. Wyatt was loping easily with Lucy jogging beside him, her breath heavier than his but with a look of determination on her face. Rufus poked his head out from beneath the machine as they passed, startling Lucy. She leapt back with a squawk. Wyatt put out a steadying hand to her back.

Rufus looked at them incredulously, "You two going stir crazy already?" He rolled out of his position and Lucy saw that the tools she'd thought were left out were arranged neatly for his use.

Wyatt nodded as Lucy composed herself and tried to catch her breath to reply. "Don't you feel cooped up in here?" Lucy leaned into his arm.

Rufus propped himself up sitting with his back against the side of the vessel. He rolled his eyes. "Of course, but I'm not gonna go and do something ridiculous like run around like a hamster. I'm still lobbying for Mason to pick up a PlayStation Switch."

Lucy had recovered her voice. "You mean Agent Christopher, right? Mason's a bit...short of funds right now, right?" She continued to lean against Wyatt's arm and unconsciously rested her hand lightly on his shoulder.

Rufus huffed. "You mean dead broke, right? Mason has a friend I've gone to before who can give you a hook up on games and stuff. Though, he might not want to have anything to do with Connor now, too." The three friends shared a morose moment thinking of the lives lost in the explosion and the overturned applecart that was all their lives now, especially the former billionaire's.

Rufus broke the moment, giving his team mates a quizzical look. "But seriously, what are you doing?"

Lucy looked to Wyatt, who shrugged. "Gotta keep in shape, right?"

Rufus gave him a doubtful look. "Don't get enough exercise running after Emma?" Then he looked pointedly at the casual contact between the two and nodded. He continued on in a changed tone. "Hey, guess you gotta get that energy out somehow, right?" Rufus shot a meaningful look at Wyatt and returned the soldiers words from earlier to him. "Have fun, kids." Rufus returned to his work.

Wyatt looked a bit embarrassed. Lucy, thinking nothing of Rufus' words at first stood up straight to continue jogging. She stopped when she saw Wyatt's expression.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Hey, I'll go easier on you this lap."

"Oh will you?" Lucy said as she took off around the Lifeboat, leaving Wyatt to catch up and exult quietly in the moment.

That evening found the five inhabitants of the bunker watching a movie on the small, ancient television in the living room. Jiya leaned against Rufus on the couch. Mason had pulled over his office chair from the make-shift desk he'd been using. Lucy and Wyatt had pulled over chairs from the kitchen table. Lucy's legs were crossed, resting on Wyatt's lap. Miraculously no one had made any comments about this arrangement but Wyatt didn't trust that luck to last forever.

The credits rolled on the film. Jiya said, "Everytime I watch it, I remember just how good Jaws is. It's amazing that a disaster movie about sharks could be so well done."

Rufus rubbed her back and said, "What, you're not a fan of Sharknado?"

Mason snarked, "And then there is that classic, Deep Blue Sea. Smart sharks. Even scarier." He raised the cup he was holding in a mock toast to the creatures and took a sip.

Jiya said, "You are all just proving my point. It's a pretty undistinguished genre. Wyatt, you're on my side here, right?"

Wyatt was sitting with his hands resting on Lucy's ankles, struggling with himself about just how obvious it would look if he started rubbing her feet. He had decided against it, not wanting to press his luck and risk Lucy moving away. Jiya's question took him off guard. He decided to pivot to movie trivia. "What? Um. You know, I heard that the shark prop wouldn't work right, so that's the reason they didn't bring it out until late in the film in Jaws. So maybe they had to act more to make up for it? CGI might kinda throw that out the window."

Lucy put in softly, "I enjoyed The Meg."

Jiya responded to Lucy, "Well, there are some plusses to that movie. Jason Statham's little eye candy, show-off moment doesn't hurt, right?" Jiya waggled her eyebrows and a sly expression came over her face as she took in the way Wyatt and Lucy were situated. "Nothing wrong with a little beefcake, right, Lucy?"

Lucy's face reddened, and her legs moved restlessly. Wyatt saw the end of this precious moment coming soon. He was trying not to think about what it all meant. Or just why these little things meant quite so much to him. But still, he glared daggers at Jiya, who gave him an unrepentant grin.

Then the moment was gone. Lucy's feet had moved. The warmth of their presence on his lap like an empty hole in his life. _But,_ he thought, _she's right here._ Lucy sat up, but she didn't leave. Leaning forward, she looked at Wyatt and smiled quietly, seeming similarly content.

Wyatt did not miss the meaningful glance Rufus and Jiya gave one another. They nodded to one another and made noises about turning in as one. Mason picked up the remote and flipped the channel, searching for his glass as he surfed from one ad for long term care insurance to an credulity-testing infomercial for carrying bag for cats. As Rufus walked off Jiya loomed over Mason. He looked up at her in irritation to which she responded with a nod of the head in Wyatt and Lucy's direction. He rolled his eyes.

"It seems I have some computations I need to do in my room." He followed Jiya who turned around after a few steps, catching Lucy's eye and giving her a wink and thumbs-up.

As the room cleared, Wyatt knew he should feel embarrassed at their colleagues' very obvious attempt to give he and Lucy privacy. But all he could think was, _Well, if they all know anyway, why the hell didn't I just rub Lucy's feet._

Lucy looked at over Wyatt from the corner of her eye. The expression on her face spelled amusement. "You sleepy?"

"Nah. You?"

Two hours later found them sitting on the couch. A late night screening of Clash of the Titans rounded out Monster Night. Lucy was leaning against Wyatt blinking sleepily. His arm was unapologetically around her shoulders. Every so often he turned towards her as they chatted easily about the film. Twice he had dared to lean in and nuzzle her hair lightly. She hadn't responded, but she hadn't pushed him away. After the second time, he'd felt her small hand snuggle in resting against his thigh. He took this all as a cautious win. Wyatt wished they could stay there all night, but with the film ending and Lucy wilting against him he realized that it was time.

"Lucy," he said quietly. She stirred, but her eyes were closed. He squeezed her shoulder lightly.

"Wyatt?" sleepily crossed her lips. Her eyelids fluttered. He gave her a lazy smile, hoping this transition to consciousness wouldn't bring a shock with it and break the delicate progress they seemed to be making. "Time for sleep." She slipped down and rested her head on his lap. She mumbled something.

"What was that?"

Her eyes came open with some effort. "I'm fine here." Closed again.

The soft sound of bare feet slapping on the concrete floor distracted Wyatt from the terribly pleasant puzzle he was facing. Jiya headed his way. She was wrapped in sweatpants and a hoodie he recognized as belonging to Rufus. As she came near a smile lit up her face at the sight of Lucy.

"Just wanted to check in with you two about a possible cot swap tonight. Seems like it might not be a problem...?"

Wyatt was torn. This was a gift. But he shrugged his shoulders and ran his hand across Lucy's hair. "Lucy. Luce? Jiya's got a question for us. We need you to weigh in."

She shifted and opened her eyes. Yawning, she glanced startled at Jiya. "What?"

Wyatt went on, "Jiya wants to switch rooms with me for the night. We need your permission. I'd take her bunk." Unbidden his hand continued to tangle in her dark hair, straightening out a curl. Lucy pushed herself up and rubbed her eyes. Wyatt braced himself for disappointment.

Lucy said, "Sure thing. You guys deserve to have more time together."

Jiya's eyes lit up. "Thank you!" She half-ran back down the hall leaving them to face this new development together.

Wyatt just looked at Lucy, letting her set the pace. Lucy contemplated him and leaned back against the couch again. "Hey."

"Yeah?"

Her hand came up to trace his cheek. Inadvertantly, he closed his eyes at the light pressure. He quickly opened his eyes to not miss the expression in hers.

"Wyatt, Rufus told me you tried to break out of here to come look for me."

"Yeah."

"You didn't have to do that."

"Lucy, respectfully, but have you lost it?" He reached up and took her hand, moved it to his lap where he held it with both of his. "I mean, you still won't tell me what they did to you, but if the sleepless nights you've been having mean anything, I just wish I'd tried sooner. And knowing what I know now, if I could go back, I would not stop until I did get out."

She gave him a sad smile. "There's no way you would have been able to find me. I still have no idea where they took me."

A feeling of anger and protectiveness blossomed in Wyatt. "Lucy," he said huskily, "if there is anyway I could go back and stop you from going back to talk with Carol. I would do it in a heartbeat. No matter what it cost me."

A cloud seemed to pass Lucy's eyes. "You said that once before."

He closed his eyes in regret. "Jessica. Yes. Another thing for me to regret. About you."

"What?"

"You will never know how close I was to not taking that jump that night."

"Wyatt..." Lucy gripped his hand in hers. She couldn't continue her words though. Not sure what to say to that. He gave her a wry grin and raised her hand to his lips. Kissed it softly, then shook his head lightly.

"That's all history, ma'am. Nothing ahead of us now, but open road." Lucy wiped a tear away from her eye with her free hand, clinging still to his.

They walked together to her room. Wyatt tucked her into bed. As he put the cover over her, she grasped his hand again and pulled him down. He curled around her, warming her back, with his arm loosely around her waist. She felt his weight leave the bed as she slipped fully from consciousness. Lucy slept more soundly than she had in weeks. Perhaps months.

When she woke, Wyatt was gone from her room. But a small smile played around her lips. She breathed a sigh, and for the first time since she got the call to Mason Industries, she got out of bed looking forward to seeing what the day would bring.


End file.
